


Secrets of a prince

by Snap0



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dad severus snape, Future Romance, Good Severus Snape, Pansy Parkinson Bashing, Parent Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:41:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28618227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snap0/pseuds/Snap0
Summary: What if your whole life has been a lie? What if you spent the majority of your life in a place where you don't belong ?Emily Ophelia Cerbus has to ask herself all these questions, when she realizes that fake memories had been planted into her brain to protect her. The facade seems to crumble two years after receiving her Hogwarts letter. How is she going to react when she finds out, that at least one of her parents is alive and more importantly one of her teachers? We are going to find out.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Kudos: 4





	1. Returning to Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there :) I just wanted to introduce my story, before I get started with the first chapter. I am kind of new to the Harry Potter fandom. I watched all of the movies, when I was younger and I really liked them, but I was never really that dedicated. A few years later I rewatched the movies and now I am simply obsessed with the world of the boy who lived. With now reading the books and a lot of fanfiction I developed my own ideas and I thought I would share them with you.  
> Additionally I have to admit, that English is not my mother tongue, so if you should notice any significant mistakes, don’t be shy and message me or leave a comment :) Also the story and the characters belong to J.K Rowling. 
> 
> This story is about Emily Ophelia Cerbus, but she was born as a Snape. As the daughter of Severus Snape, to be exact. During her first years of life, everything had been perfect. But after a life changing occurrence, Severus decided that it was best for her to grow up in the muggle world, far away from the dangerous ghosts of his past.

„Anything off the trolley?“, an old shrill sounding voice shouted and managed to wake the young witch up from her deep sleep. „Aaaanything off the trolley?“ It was no other than the infamous trolley lady. An old witch who always sweetened the ride to Hogsmeade. Well, at least if you had enough money to afford it of course. 

On Emilys very first train ride with the Hogwarts Express, the trolley lady caught a third year student stealing one of her Cauldron cakes and all of the sudden this lovely old lady turned into a revenge seeking witch. She transfigured her hands into claws, snatching the candy right out of the boys grasp. His nasty grin disappeared immediately, but he deserved it. 

Emily rummaged through her pockets and managed to find enough sickles to buy a chocolate frog. Just then she noticed Hermione playfully rolling her eyes. „You’d been asleep for 5 hours and the simple mention of food attracts your attention“ Emily simply shrugged and bit the head off of her frog, which according to Hermione looked a bit barbaric. Ron bought himself a pack of droobles and plopped down next Hermione again, who had been eagerly reading the ‚Daily Prophet‘. 

„How come you never get anything from the trolley, ’Mione ?“, Emily asked, her mouth filled with delicious chocolate crumbles. „I am simply not in the mood for some caries causing chocolate animals“ Emily looked at her as a scuff escaped her lips and she pretended to be offended. She had known Hermione for quite some time, so she basically knew what made her tick. „Hermione’s parents are dentists. She’s probably afraid, that they would make her open her mouth at the end of the term to inspect her dental hygiene“, Ron mocked, nudging Hermione’s side, which of course made her chuckle a bit. 

Her eyes then focused on the newspaper again. „Whatever the case may be, we are about to face something vicious with the appearance of the dark mark, I just know it“, she muttered and all of the sudden Harry, touched his scar, which appeared to be hurting again. „Blimey Harry, are you alright?“, Ron asked, his eyes filled with concern. „It’s hurting again , isn’t it? I do think Sirius would want to know about this and the dreams you’ve been having“, Hermione recommended. She really was the mother of their group, always there with an advise.

While Harry wrote the letter, Ron could not stop talking about the scenery, that had happened at the Quidditch world cup. „You should have seen it, Emily. Scariest thing I have experienced so far“   
„Even scarier than Snape, when he’s insulting students for doing something wrong, they have actually never done before?“ Ron simply nodded, his eyebrows raised. Of course he had been in a similar situation before. „What are they called again? Death preacher?“, Emily asked, her head immediately shooting in Harry’s direction as he let out a snicker. „Death eater“, Hermione corrected her. „And what do they look like? The so called death eater?“ Ron took a deep breath before he started to explain. „Apparently they wear a black cloak, a black hood and a mask with snake-like eye slits to cover their faces“ His description gave her a small idea on how she imagined them to look like and she thought that the term death preacher simply fitted better. Hermione nodded in agreement. „Their style of clothing did not reveal anything, though. No hair, no facial expression… nothing. Even if we’d had more time to analyze their appearance, I don’t think we would have been able to identify someone“, she added, rubbing her temples for a moment. Stress would have been the correct term to describe the mood of the friends, however Emily got used to the fact that there was no opportunity to ever relax. It had been this way since her first year at Hogwarts as Ginny was accidentally involved with the chamber of secrets.   
Be that as it may, Emily never even dared to consider a change of friends. „How was your summer anyway?“ asked Ron „Bummer that you couldn’t join us“, he added and Hermione agreed with a nod. „It could have been worse. Spent quite some time alone. According to the lot of them I am a freak because I walk around with a stick“, the youngest of them explained with a shrug. She didn't actually hate the orphanage, though she considered her true home to be somewhere else. Somewhere more magical. Hogwarts. 

The remaining time on the train passed rather quickly and only a couple of hours later Emily found herself in front of the great hall. At the beginning of the term, the castle and the view of it never failed to impress and amaze her once again. The part about entering ,she particularly despised, though ,was the pushing and shoving of students who wanted the best seats for themselves.  
„Greedy prats“, Emily mumbled and all of the sudden someone pushed her a little too hard and she fell into Pansy Parkinson, who had just turned around to look for her friends. „Are you mental? You’re crushing my spleen!“, Pansy hissed and pushed Emily away from her.  
„As it seems, you don’t even know where your spleen is“, Hermione countered, crossing her arms in front of her chest, which left Parkinson speechless for a whole second.

Ron quickly helped Emily up again and together they made their way to the Gryffindor table. „Already picking a fight with our friends from Slytherin?“, George asked with a wink as he sat down on the other side of the large, wooden table. „More like Slythershits“, Emily grumbled and as she watched the students taking their seats she glanced over towards the Slytherin table and noticed Parkinson basically licking the side of Malfoys face.   
Obviously they still had been a thing. Well, those were literally made for each other. Just two years ago Emily had an embarrassingly huge crush on Draco, but after properly seeing his true character she could not comprehend, what her 11 year old self saw in him. 

Professor Dumbledore interrupted her thoughts with a loud harrumph. He welcomed the older students back to Hogwarts and introduced himself to the first year students. 

It didn’t take long for them to be sorted into their houses and Dumbledore obviously had more to say as he excitedly got up from his seat again, stepping forwards. 

„Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This  
castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests  
as well. So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who do not know,  
the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete.   
Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted, but more of that later“, he announced and not until then Emily noticed, that he wore even brighter colors than usual.   
His robe was sparkling almost aggressively as he threw his hands into the air. He busted with joy. 

She looked at Hermione in confusion. „Did you know about that?“, the young witch asked her in a whisper. „Well, we talked about it on the train, while you were asleep. Malfoy bragged because apparently his father told him all about it during the summer“, she replied, rolling her eyes as she mentioned Dracos last name. Emily simply shrugged and turned around to pay attention to Dumbledore again. „For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime“, he shouted and with a flick of his wrist, the large door to the great hall opened, offering the entrance for our guests. 

A group of girls dressed in blue danced up the aisle and released  
butterflies into the air. Well, that’s flamboyant. They bowed and everyone applauded them. The great hall was filled with teenage hormones, Emily could almost smell that.   
All of the boys were intensively gawking at the French students, drool almost dripping onto the floor in the meantime. „Boys are so easily impressed“, she whispered. „Exactly“, Ginny mumbled back in agreement. 

But in spite of all that, Emily had to admit that they were undeniably beautiful. Examining her fellow Gryffindor schoolmates, she noticed that the French girls had the most impact on her friend Ron, who apparently was not able to close his gasping mouth. „Merlins beard Ron, close your mouth“, she told him, but he ignored her.   
Emily observed the scene in front of her quite intently as she did not know what would happen next. All of the sudden an unnaturally tall lady followed the students of Beauxbatons. „Thats one big woman“, she heard Seamus say and they were all gasping. She was even taller than Hagrid.

„Galloping Gargoyles, that woman could spit on my head without any effort“, Emily mumbled which made Ron laugh. „Well, that’s not too hard. Wanna see me try?“, he mocked and nudged her shoulder. She stuck out her tongue at him before she turned around again to watch the huge Lady receiving a kiss on her knuckles from Dumbledore himself who was more than enthusiastic. 

The Ladies in blue took a seat at the Ravenclaw table and most of them were almost shivering due to their lack of adequate clothing. „Maybe bring a jacket next time“, Hermione grumbled next to Emily. She was right, though. They should have gotten some information on their weatherly situation beforehand. 

Emily had no time to overthink the poor choices of clothing of their guests as Dumbledore raised his voice again. “And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang  
and the head master Igor Karkaroff“, he shouted and a series of older boys walked up the aisle brandishing bo staffs, twirling them around and stabbing them into the ground with a spark effect. 

„They’re really here to show off, eh?“, I said to Ginny who was as unimpressed by them as I was. Several people where gasping and some of them even shrieked a little as the head master passed us with a student walking closely next to him.

„Blimey it's him, Viktor Krum!“, Ron exclaimed and he was almost as excited as a couple of minutes ago when the girls entered the great hall, although his reaction was slightly different, he was admiring him. „Who is that?“, Emily asked loudly, hoping that someone would explain to her, why this Viktor appeared to be more important than the other Durmstrang students.   
„Ronald’s in love with him“, Fred exclaimed and George cackled.  
„Yeah, he absolutely admires him“, he added, winking at his younger brother, who was blushing by now. Emily couldn’t hold back a chuckle, therefore her friend punished her with a glare. „Alright, Ron’s in love with him I got that-“ and another nudge from Ronald. „but that doesn’t quite explain why the girls and surprisingly a lot of guys are losing it. Is he famous?“, she asked again.

„Who is Viktor Krum, she asks“, a boy called Alex whispered in disbelief. At this exact moment Emily felt as if she had been living under a rock. „He’s the best seeker in the whole wild world“, Ron explained, passionately.  
„And he’s actually here. Probably wants to participate as well“, he continued, thinking out loud.   
Harry leaned forward with a reassuring smile. „Don’t feel bad. I had never heard of him either. Well, at least until the Quidditch world cup, where he played for Bulgaria against Ireland“. Emily mouthed a quick thanks.

As the Gryffindor table was done chatting about Krum and his fellow students, the Durmstrang boys finished their show with a fire dragon. Karkaroff examined the great hall and its glory and offered the students a smile, showing off his rather yellow teeth. Since she had been sitting in the front, Emily could actually see and observe his facial expression.  
His smile disappeared, though, as his eyes landed on the Gryffindor table. At first Emily didn’t quite understand it but then she noticed whom he had been looking or rather staring at. Of course it was Harry. „Seems like you’re an international Legend“,   
She mumbled in Harrys direction and just then Karkaroff quickly looked away, shifting uncomfortably as he linked his hands behind his back. „Of course he is“, Ron replied. 

Harrys eyes were glued to ground for moment. He actually hated the attention he was receiving. All those people staring at his forehead, trying to catch a sight of his prominent scar. Karkaroff himself took a seat at the staff table next to Professor Snape. His students proudly sat down on the Slytherin table and at first Emily didn’t understand it, but Ron explained that Durmstrang did not accept any muggle-borns, that’s why they must have felt the most comfortable there. 

„May I have your attention again?“, Dumbledore asked rather loudly and waited for the students to be quiet before he began talking again. „It may have escaped your notice but we have got yet another empty chair at the teachers table. Therefore I want to introduce you to our new defense against the dark arts teacher, Alastor Moody“, he proclaimed and started clapping, notably he was the only one doing so, as said Professor staggered towards the headmaster.   
„Bloody hell, it's Mad-Eye Moody“, Ron uttered, raising his eyebrow in disbelief. 

Another name Emily had actually never heard before. „Mad-Eye Moody? Isn’t he an Auror?“, Hermione asked and Ron nodded. „Was“, he corrected and apparently he caught Emilys confused look as he explained further. „He was a catcher. Half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him. He’s supposed to be mad as a hatter though these days“. That sounded promising. Their last D.A.D.A teacher turned out to be werewolf and Lockhart, the first D.A.D.A teacher she experienced, was a fraud, therefore the young witch was quite curious if he was only going to last for one term as well. „What happened to his face?“, Hermione asked in a whisper, her eyes widening as he passed the front of our table. „Dunno“, Ron replied. 

Just then Emily recognized what Hermione meant. He looked as though his face was roughly carved from wood, he was covered in scars. Even a chunk of his nose was missing. In general he looked as if life hadn’t been easy on him. His eyes, however, were his most shocking feature: one was small and dark while the other was a vivid, electric blue magical eye that moved around independently from his normal eye. Now she reckoned where his nickname Mad-Eye came from. 

Nevertheless, Dumbledore appeared to put stock in him, so they ought to do the same.   
„My dear old friend, thanks for coming“, he greeted him with an acquainted handshake. Moody offered him a small, reassuring smile, before his hand rummaged through the pockets of his long cloak. The cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground revealing a wooden leg which ended in a clawed food. He fished a flask out of his pocket and took a quick sip before putting it away again. „What's that he's drinking do you suppose?“, Emily asked Harry, nodding towards the new Professor.   
„I don’t know, but I don’t think its pumpkin juice“. There was his vice, apparently he had a drinking problem.   
As the minutes passed, Emily had become ravenous. But Dumbledore insisted that it would only be fair to greet the guests in an appropriate way with their infamous hymn and therefore they started to sing it. As usual everyone chose their own style and speed to sing it, which still seemed a little weird to Emily, but even weirder to their guests according to their frowning expression.   
As soon as they finished Dumbledore announced that they would first eat and talk about the tournament afterwards, which was fine by everyone.

„Let the feast begin“. Right after this words left his mouth, the tables were filled with delicious food and this time they even offered a variety of international goods. But Emily decided to go for the usual. Chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, Ketchup and a little bit of gravy. Between bites she checked my surroundings and noticed Ron passionately eating chicken drums with both of his hands. But who am I to judge, she thought, as she was shoveling as well. In behalf of that the young witch was the first to finish her plate. Satisfied as ever she leaned a little backwards and took a deep breath. God, I missed the food. 

The appearance of the great hall, especially on the first evening of the term, was never disappointing. Yet they were capable to make it look even more marvelous this time. It was spotless, everything seemed even cleaner. As usual the thousand candles were gleefully floating in the midair, endowing the abnormally large room with cosy light. Giant flags with the house crests were above the tables. It was simply breathtaking, not to say majestic. Even the ghosts appeared to have a lot of fun, as they were catching up with the students, asking them how their summer went. 

Emilys eyes landed on the staff table, they were all chatting with each other and even the two employees of the ministry of magic had fun. Karkaroff and Snape were also in a deep conversation but apparently Karkaroff was more of a talker than his discussion partner, who was rather nodding than responding with actual words.  
Emily watched them for a couple of seconds until the potions master looked up and their eyes met. She looked away quickly, not really wanting to offend him on the first evening back. That would only mean trouble and she would rather keep her decent mark in his class.   
As her eyes wandered back to the staff people, Snapes eyes were widened. Furthermore his eyebrows were raised and his mouth hang slightly open. He looked shocked. 

Abruptly he got up from his seat and left the great hall. Even as Karkaroff and Dumbledore called after him, he chose to ignore them.   
All of the students watched the scene expectantly, but nothing else happened. The headmaster did not address it at all, but he probably did not know any more than the students did. All of the sudden Dumbledore looked at Emily with a frown.

Nearly headless Nick interrupted her thoughts, though, as he crouched down next to her.   
„What’s his matter? Has he seen a ghost?“, he asked seriously, which made her laugh a little.   
Emily finally pushed her inner dialogue about Snapes behavior aside, as the feast was over and Dumbledore explained the rules of the tournament. She half heartedly listened to him, because she was not really interested in participating.   
He then announced that students who did want to participate had to be at least 17 years old, which left some of them speechless or quite the opposite. Fred and George both exclaimed their displeasure with simple. „That’s rubbish“. 

Later that night Emily found herself on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. „What do you think about the age line, Em?“, Ginny asked, plopping down next to her. She simply shrugged. „Dunno. I wouldn’t have even tried to participate anyway“, she explained. „As clumsy as you are I think that’s a wise decision“, Ron said, snickering. He was in very tense game of wizard’s chess against Harry, but her red headed friend seemed to be on the winners side.  
„Tosser“, Emily mumbled jokingly, throwing a piece of paper at him. 

„What do you think happened with Snape?“, Hermione asked all of the sudden. She was of course sitting at the table with an enormous book in front of her. The term had barely started and she was already eager to study. Ron looked up from the chess board and said „I’m not sure. Maybe he forgot to prepare his new torture methods for the morning class“ Harry laughed at this just like everyone else in this room.   
Even Emily had to smile at this, though she didn’t actually hate the potions master. Of course he favored his precious Slytherins, but he had never been mean to her.   
„Or maybe he forgot to wear his extra black robes. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but his robes were actually only dark blue“, Ron continued , laughing at his own joke.   
After Ron beat Harry yet again, he continued his jokes about Snape and after he got bored, he started to talk about the tournament and how he would like to participate.   
He actually planned on joining his brothers, since they had decided to find a way around the age line. 

A while later Ginny and Emily decided to go to their dormitory and after talking about our summer experiences they both fell asleep rather quickly. It was raining outside and the soft splashing sound of drops on the window made it even easier to fall into a peaceful slumber.


	2. Meeting new friends

The sunlight streamed golden through the window in a well mannered announcement of the risen sun. Emily slowly opened her eyes as the first radiant rays of the sun tickled her awake. She blinked a few times, before she was fully able to take

in her surroundings. Her eyes landed on the window and she could not help but to think, that the curtains did a rather poor job at protecting the room from the bright sun.

She had been so tired the night before, she even forgot to close the curtains of her four posters bed. The young witch glanced at her wristwatch and noticed that it was only 7 a.m and apparently she had been the first one to wake up according to the soft breathing sounds and snoring coming from her dorm mates.

Emily sat up, rubbed her knuckles onto her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.

The floor was rather cold as her bare feet touched it, therefore she quickly grabbed every piece of clothing she would need for the day anda towel before she made her way to the adjacent bathroom.

The warm water felt good as it streamed down her still tired body, awakening her skin in all the right ways.

15 minutes later, Emily found herself in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth and combing her long dark blonde waves. She put a hair clip into her hair, to prevent her it from falling into her face.

After getting dressed and with a last embarrassing wink into the mirror, she left the bathroom and noticed that Ginny had just gotten up as well. „Good morning“, Emily greeted her friend with a smile. „Mornin’, I’m kinda surprised to see you all awake and smiling“, she remarked, grabbing her things from the trunk.

Ginny was right. Usually she had to wake her friend as Emily had a hard time getting up punctually. „Yeah, but I’m sure tomorrow you’ll have the pleasure to wake me up again“, she joked. While Ginny got ready, their other dorm mates awoke from their deep slumber. Most of them were complaining about getting up early again, which Emily totally understood. She also had to get used to the regulated daily routine again.

Together Emily and Ginny walked to the great hall, it was still rather early, so they had plenty of time to enjoy their breakfast in peace. „Sucks, that we didn’t choose the same electives“, Emily stated as she sat down next to Hermione, who greeted them with a „Good morning“, before she focused on the porridge again and more importantly on the heavy book in front of her.

„Yeah, I know. But I took Hermione’s advice and chose Arithmancy over Divination“, Ginny explained, eating her porridge as well. Hermione looked up and offered Ginny a reassuring smile.

„I think divination sounds like fun“, Emily said with a shrug and just then Ron and Harry took a seat next to them. „It’s all fun until Professor Trelawneypredicts your death every week“, Harry quipped and Ron agreed with a nod. „But it’s still better, than potions“, he mumbled and tilted his head in Snape’s direction, who was quietly drinking his tea at the staff table.

_He’s probably not a morning person either._

„So you take Arithmancy and ancient runes, right?“, Emily asked Ginny. „Oh, guess I forgot to tell you. I switched, so I’m taking Arithmancy and care of magical creatures“

„Wicked!“, Emily exclaimed and finished her toast. „Wanna go together to Hagrid’s hut later?“, she asked and Ginny nodded. „I’ll meet you at the entrance“.

With a last wave to her friends, Emily left the table and made her way to the divination class room. She was a little nervous to go to a class without Ginny. This had barely happened before, therefore she hoped that she at least knew anyone so she would not have to sit next to a stranger or even worse alone.

Her heart beat a little faster as she reached the classroom and opened the door.

_Wow, just like Harry described it._

Compared to the other classrooms, this one was rather small.

Circular tables were crammed inside, each girded with two or three seat cushions.

The curtains at the windows were all closed, and the lamps were draped with dark red scarves. The only reliable source of light was the fireplace. Everything in this class room was in a red shade. It was undoubtedly mysterious.

Emily looked around and a lot of her Gryffindor classmates had already found a partner, whereby she had felt stranded for a moment.

All of the sudden a thin woman approached her.

She wore large glasses, which made her eyes appear reluctantly enhanced. Her wild curls were tamed with the help of a hairband. „Oh dear, there is absolutely no reason to be nervous. Do come inside!“, she encouraged and lead her inside.

„Your aura is currently quite tense, I can tell.… But I do feel positive energy surrounding you. Why don’t you take a seat next to Miss Lovegood? You will get along just fine, I can see that“, she promised, her voice soft even a little wraithlike. Eventually she spotted Luna Lovegood in the front row. The girl, many people called ‚Looney Lovegood‘ ,was contently reading a magazine and as Emily walked closer she was able to identify the title. _The Quibbler._

Though, she had never heard of it before.

Emily was not sure if she should simply sit down next to her or if she was supposed to ask Luna for approval first. „You may sit down“, Luna said in a silvery voice. „Oh , eh.. thanks“ Emily sat down on one of the seat cushions and took a deep breath. She actually hated sitting in the front row, but she tried to look on the bright sight, she would be the first one to leave the classroom after the bell rang. As she scanned the classroom from her new perspective she noticed crystal balls on every table and tea cups. ‚ _Kind of a weird combination_ ‘, Emily thought. Another thing she had not noticed at first was the cat, which was peacefully lying on one of the armchairs near the fireplace.

Their was another round table in the middle of the classroom with a second armchair. Her eyes landed on Luna who was still reading her magazine untroubledly. She had cherry earrings and a sunflower clasp in her hair. She seemed so nice and innocent, Emily could not comprehend why people mocked her or could be mean to her in general. Luna must have noticed Emilys glances since she put down the magazine and offered her classmate a smile.

„I like your hair clip“, Luna said, carefully reaching out to trace the red material of the clip. „Thank you, Hermione gave it to me last christmas“, Emily explained, smiling shyly. „Yours is beautiful too. Do you like sunflowers?“

Luna beamed at this and nodded. „My mom gave it to me. Sunflowers are actually one of my favorites, you see. They symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. Did you know that sunflowers always face the sun ? And when there’s no sun, they simply face each other and that’s mesmerizing, don’t you think?“ She asked enthusiastically.

Until Professor Trelawney closed the door after the last students entered the room, Luna told Emily everything about sunflowers and flowers in general. At first Emily thought this topic was rather boring, but she was captivated by Luna’s fascination for the simplest of things.

Professor Trelawney taught them the fundamentals of this _very special_ area.

„Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!“, she told them.

Slowly Emily understood why Hermione dropped this rather eccentric class, but she tried not to judge as it was only her first lesson.

Later they were introduced to the complex world of Tessomancy, which is the art of reading tea leaves to predict events in the future.

„That sounds kind of silly, don’t you think ?“, Emily asked Luna in a whisper, but she only shrugged. „I’m not sure, but I would like to give it a try“.

Each of their tea cups were filled with the leaves and Emilystarted to inspect Lunas cup as Professor Trelawney encouraged her students with an „It’s your turn- unfogg the future“

After some initial difficulties Emily took a few notes, whereas Luna had already grabbed her book and compared her notes with the different significances.

„Do you want to start?“, Luna asked softly and Emily nodded.

„Eh, let’s see. I think it’s supposed to be a sun - I recognize some rays over there“, she started to explain, pointing with her finger towards the tea leaves.

She quickly checked the right chapter in the book, before she continued. „The sun means great happiness“.

Suddenly Professor Trelawney rested her hand on Emilys shoulder for a moment, which generously startled her. „Very good“, she exclaimed overly excited. „Do you see anything else? Anything … dramatic ? Don’t be shy, spit it out“

_What am I supposed to do ? Predict Lunas death ?_

Emily inspected the cup for a few seconds and spotted a black oval dot. „This could be an acorn?“, she asked, looking up at the professor , who was clasping her hands together. „This might do it! What does it mean?“ Another glance at the book offered the right answer. „Unexpected gold…. Eh, so I guess you’re gonna find a pile of gold and it’s gonna bring you happiness?!“

Luna smiled widely.

Not as dramatic as the professor would have preferred it, but she was satisfied with Emilys prediction „That does sound promising“ Now it was Lunas turn. She grabbed her classmates cup and showed her the tea leaves.

„I am convinced that this is supposed to be a dragon. You can see its stunning, beautiful wings, its horns, its long tail and if you look closer you will notice, that it is spitting fire.“ Emily narrowed her eyes and followed Lunas description, examining the cup closely and she was even able to recognize the dragon.

„It means that you should expect large and sudden changes“, Luna explained.

_What kind of sudden changes? Death?_

„How does a dragon represent sudden changes? Isn’t it also possible that something is going to burn ?“, Emily thought out loud and she suspected that Luna was working on a precise explanation in her head.

„No, no. It is not as predictable or evidently as you may think. Quite the opposite actually. The first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a dragon is fire, I reckon?“, Luna asked and Emily nodded, eager to know what Luna was trying to point out. „And yet they are so much more than harming creatures. They’re quite mysterious, beautiful and mesmerizing. One never knows, what they’re up to“, Luna explained further.

„Hmm, interesting“, Emily hummed and thought for a moment. She considered Lunas way to describe these kind of things rather fascinating.

Professor Trelawney reappeared and clapped once, obviously impressed. „My dear, you are born for this“, she told Luna, who kind of blushed for a moment.

„I just like to consider different perspectives“, the blonde explained with a shrug.

Emily leaned back for a moment and decided to listen to her classmates for a change. She really wanted to know, if everyone took this class seriously.

A boy from Gryffindor called Tobi was trying his best to find the perfect symbol to analyze his partners cup, but he gave up. „I see tea leaves and an empty mug. I think you will run out of tea and it’s gonna make you sad, mate“, he explained dryly and Emily couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

Nevertheless, Professor Trelawney observed the cup tentatively and let out gasp.

„Oh dear boy. Tea is not the only thing you need to worry about. Look closely and you will notice …a skull“, she trembled, slightly shaking her head.

„A skull ? …. It means danger in your path“, Toby explained unconcerned.

His friend, Terrence clasped his hands over his head, obviously anxious.

„Bloody hell how can you stay calm, I’m gonna die!“

At this exact moment Emily understood what Harry meant earlier.

It took quite some time until Terrence calmed down again. Professor Trelawney convinced him that a skull did not mean his instantaneous death. She explained that he should watch out for possible endangerments and recommended him to sleep with one eye open.

Emily grabbed her bag as the bell rang and left the classroom immediately, Luna silently following her. „Interesting wasn’t it?“, she asked.

„Yeah I guess. Just hope that we all will survive her predictions“, Emily said with a snicker. „What’s your next class?“

It turned out that Luna had also chosen Divination and care of magical creatures, therefore she decided to walk with Emily and Ginny to Hagrids hut.

On their way, Emily told Ginny everything about the class and the sudden change, she was supposed the experience.

In ‚Care of magical creatures’ Hagrid taught them about the existence of flubberworms. But the students were not allowed to actually take care of them, at least not during their first lesson. Hagrid became rather precautious, since Buckbeak had attacked Draco Malfoy the prior year. Though most of the students had been aware, that it was Malfoys own fault.

Emily enjoyed this class for several reasons. First of all she was very fond of the idea to have a class outside and moreover she found Hagrid quite likable.He had an unique way to teach, but it was not necessarily a bad thing.A soft breeze tousled Emilys hair, it didn’t bother her, though. She liked this particular weather.The summer was prepared to leave, offering last warming rays of sunshine.

„ ’til next lesson I wan’ ya to prepare some information on flubberworms. Search for ‘em in yer books“, Hagrid told them and ended the class.

On their way to lunch Luna tried to convince Ginny, that Flobberworms are beautiful in their own way, but the red haired girl did seem allegedly unpersuaded.

„We should’ve snatched one to put iton Ron’s plate. He didn’t seem very fond of them when he told me about them“, Emily teased and laughed at the imagination.

„He’d throw up in the great hall“

Lunch was completely unspectacular. Hermione asked them about their classes and told them about hers and what she had enjoyed so far.

„Divination was quite interesting. I’m supposed to expect big changes soon“, Emilytold her friends. „Because Loony, eh Luna, cognized a dragon in your cup? That’s humbug“, Hermione stated skeptically.

„Which one is gonna die this year?“, Harry asked rather amused. „No one yet actually. But apparently Terrence will have something dangerous crossing his path. He wasn’t very fond of the idea“, Emily snickered.

A couple of minutes later, Ginny and Emily departed from their table and made their way to ‚Transfiguration‘ with Professor Mcgonagall.They had been the first to enter the classroom, therefore they had enough time to choose their seats wisely. Since the both liked and more importantly respected their head of the Gryffindor house, they chose a table in the second row. Professor McGonagall greeted them as she entered the room through her office and asked them about their summer.During their first lesson of the term, they learned about animagis and the professor herself even demonstrated her abilities.Emily had never actually seen something like this before, it was surreal, but breathtakingly fascinating.Just as Mcgonagall wrote down the homework on the blackboard the bell ended the class for her. „I expect well researched essays. Everyone who fails to deliver next lesson will expect detention“, she warned and mentally Emily already asked Hermione for help.

„Ugh, now potions with Snape. I bet that bitter, old man already prepared a list of misdeeds he can accuse us of….Just imagine that git standing in front of the mirror at the beginning of the term preparing for his classes. ‚700 points from Gryffindor‘ and then he just laughs and rubs his hands together like an evil fly“, Toby said, ambitious to imitate Snapes voice as good as possible.

„Maybe that’s what my tea leaves wanted to tell me. He’s the dangerous part of my path“, Terrence rumored as he jointed the conversation.

Emily laughed along with them and rummaged through her bag and then she noticed that she forgot something important. „ _Fuck_ , I forgot my potions book“, she grumbled, turning around to walk to the dormitories. „You better run or Snape already has a good reason to take points“, Toby called after her, chuckling.

Emily tried to walk as fast as possible and according to her wrist watch, she would be there on time. After she dashed down the stairs and reached the dungeons again she decided to run the last bit of it. She noticed a couple of people passing her, but she did not stop. She could not risk coming late to their first potions lesson.All of the sudden, she stumbled over something and fell down on the hard stone floor, kissing it with her chin.A few seconds later she collected herself and got up, groaning slightly as the pain wandered through her body- mostly her face.

At least her limbs were all in the right places and the rest of her body appeared to be almost undamaged as well.Emily grabbed her book and straightened her robes before she turned around and saw the cause of her unsuspected fall. Pansy Parkinsons outstretched foot. She had tripped her up and she was laughing at her successful maneuver, her friends joining in on the party ofspiteful laughter.„That’s for running me over yesterday and for Grangers loose tongue“, she spat, viciously.Emily would have liked to say something, but she was unable to do so. Parkinson caught her off guard and even more important, she was about to be late.The young witch decided to ignore the Slytherin girls and made her way to the potions class room. „Hey, Gryffindork“, she heard Pansy yell. „If I was you I’d wipe my chin. It’s bloody“.

Emily quickly wiped her chin with a handkerchief and finally opened the door to enter the room.

She had been on time, she even had a spare minute to find a seat.

Usually Snape would have made a snarky comment on her rather late arrival, but on this day he decided against it. And Emily was thankful for that. First Parkinson and then Snape, she would have probably started crying on the spot.

The girl scanned the room, trying to find Ginny who promised to save her a seat. After a short moment she spotted the youngest Weasley sibling in the penultimate row, sitting next to a Slytherin. Ginny turned around and immediately apologized. „Sorry, I wasn’t allowed to save a seat“

The last option had been a table behind Ginny’s next to a boy from Slytherin, therefore she shyly took a seat next him.

Ginny turned around again, raising an eyebrow. „What happened to your face?“, she asked, worry in her voice. „I fell. I’ll tell you later“, Emily whispered back and prepared herself for the lesson.

„Today you will learn about Wiggenweld potion. It is a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries, or reverse the effects of a Sleeping Draught“, Snape explained in his usual gravelly voice. He started to write down the ingredients on the blackboard and the students were supposed to copy them.

An unsuspected tap on her shoulder gave her a jerk.

„Emily ? Do you have some ink for me ? I forgot mine“ the Slytherin boy next to her, Elijah, asked her.

Wordlessly Emily put the ink jar in the middle of the table.

She was not in the mood to talk to someone like him. Someone from the Slytherin house. He mumbled a quick thanks, putting the tip of his quill into the jar.

Emily could not have sat farther away from him as she wanted as much space between them as possible.

She just did not want the Slytherins to ruin her entire day.

„You’re quite full of prejudice, aren’t you?“, he asked after a while.

„What are you talking about?“, Emily snapped, her head shooting in his direction for the first time. Elijah grinned and shook his head. „Merlins beard. I bet your opinion of me is based on my green tie, am I right?“, he asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

Emily glanced towards the front of the class, inspecting if she could talk without the potions master catching her chatting with her neighbor, butSnape was busy writing down the brewing instructions now.

„Your house is filled with arseholes. And I have a problem with arseholes“, she said furiously, still trying to keep her voice down.

Usually Emily would not have replied at all, but Pansy Parkinson’s move made her _angry_ to say at least.

She didn’t push her on purpose on their first day and Emily was certain that Parkinson had been aware of the fact.

It was Pansys excuse to bully yet another Gryffindor.

„You are a little too convinced. Just a quick question. Have I ever been mean to you?“, he asked.

_Damn, he’s got a point._

„No, but to be fair, it’s the first time you’re talking to me“, she hit back with a shrug.

Emily asked herself, when she had become so close minded. Of course she had talked to nice Slytherins before, she also had experienced encounters with a mean Hufflepuffs.

„Elijah, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve judged you based on your housemates“, she suddenly spoke up again, which put a smile on the boys face.

„Now tell me, who’s in charge of your foul mood“.

Emily considered to ignore him again, since she certainly did not want to be caught by Snape while talking in his class. He did seem nice, though. But could she trust him? What if he told anyone and they would laugh at her?

Emily decided to push her negative thoughts aside for once and took a deep breath before she spoke again. „Pansy Parkinson“, she mumbled, rather embarrassed.

Elijah put his quill down and apparently decided to take a break from writing.„Oi! She’s picking a fight with everyone who’s not in Slytherin as it seems. What did she do?“ Emily told him about the incident of the prior day and about their encounter which had only happened 60 minutes ago. The young witch could feel the anger building up inside her again, as her face reddened. She had white knuckles from clenching her fist too hard, and gritted teeth from the effort to remain silent.

Oh she felt the desperate need to smash something, breaking things out of anger always seemed to help. But she knew she had to restrain herself. Parkinson was not worth it, she told herself over and over again.„Blimey! You really want to smash her face, eh?“, he asked faintly and Emily simply nodded.„I want to hit her with a knife“, she hissed.

Elijah let out a chuckle. Apparently he still found a little bit of amusement in her situation. „I think the technical term is stab“. Emily could not help but to let out a chuckle herself at this remark. However, she relinquished her grip and relaxed her hands again.

„Like I said before, not all Slytherins are dreadfully mean. Look at Martha over there“, he said, pointing at a girl with a green tie who was sitting n the front row. „One of the friendliest people you will find in this classroom. Strenuous, ambitious, but still friendly. Her best friend is a Hufflepuff by the way“, he continued.

Elijah opened his mouth again as he wanted to say more, but he was interrupted by professor Snape, who was terrifyingly glaring at them. „I do apologize for interrupting this vitally important conversation of yours. But I suggest Mr. Collar you stop distracting Miss …. Cerbus. Or you will find yourself in this room later on this evening, serving your very first detention of this term“, he menaced, still glaring at Elijah.

His eyes softened, though, as his they met Emilys.„Are we clear?“ Both of them nodded and stopped talking immediately, not wanting to spend the second evening in Professor Snapes classroom.Their teacher raised an eyebrow at the two students, before turning towards the blackboard again.

Ginny turned around and she looked quite surprised. „What ?“, Emily asked in confusion. The youngest Weasley sibling glanced at Snape, making sure he was very much occupied with the blackboard. „You just offered him his best chance to take points from Gryffindor and yet he didn’t take it“, she explained and at this moment, Emily finally understood what her friend was talking about.

It was quite unusual for Snape to act this way, he did not even criticize her in the slightest.„Maybe it’s because you entered this room with a bruised, bloody chin. He isn’t _that_ heartless“, Elijah interjected confidently.He really was trying to see the best in _everyone._ _„_ If you say so“, Ginny mumbled, before she applied herself to the potion instruction on the blackboard again.

About 5 minutes later Snape finished his last sway of the chalk and in a quick motion he turned around, facing the class again.„As it appears some of you are not particularly interested in the process of creating the Wiggenweld potion. Now-“, he started, his voice dangerously low.Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat, he was probably going to give them detention just as he mentioned before.Snape wandered around the class, his hands carefully folded behind his back. „Ms Weasley, thanks to your lack of interest and common sense 10 points will be taken from Gryffindor. I always assumed that you’re different than your brothers, but apparently I was wrong with this assumption“.

The rest of the potions class went by more silently as no one was brave enough to say another word.Emily was the first one to leave the classroom after Snape finally let them go.She said a quick goodbye to Elijah, who was joining a group of Slytherins after they departed.„What happened to your chin? Did you trip over your own feet again?“, Ginny asked, as they made their way to the last class of the day. Defense against the dark arts. „Kinda“, admitted Emily kind of embarrassed. „But it was rather Parkinsons foot I tripped over“. Ginny stood still for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. „Remember when someone pushed me yesterday and I kind of fell into her? She wanted revenge and I kissed the ground with my face“.

„Blimey, Em. You gotta tell someone. That’s not okay“

Emily just snorted. "And you believe that’s gonna change anything ?“

If somebody ever had asked Emily to describe Professor Moody in one word, she would probably choose _intense._ She had experienced several teachers, each of them unlike the other, but Moody was an enigma himself. His way of teaching was remarkably unique, though. He even told them about the unforgivable curses.„You need to know about these. They’re _essential._ I know the ministry, the teacher staff and possibly all of your parents would disagree. But luckily I’m in charge for now“, he stated, convinced with the words leaving his mouth.

The professor staggered back and forth. Whenever he reached the back of the room, he would grab his flask quickly and took a sip. The taste of this mysterious liquid howsoever did not seem very luscious, as he made a twisted face of utter disgust every time his lips touched the flask.

„Where was I ? Right, unforgivable curses. There are three of them, to be exact. The Cruciatus curse, also known as the torture curse. When cast successfully the curse inflicts intense, excruciating pain on the victim. Not a very pleasant feeling, I can assure you that. The second one is the Imperius curse, it allows the caster to control another’s actions. And the last one“, he began as some of the students shifted uncomfortably in their seats. „The death curse. And as the name indicates it results in instantaneous death“. A shiver ran down Emilys spine as she listened to him carefully. _The death curse._

After he talked about those three curses, he even explained how to cast them, without a visual demonstration of course.

_Avada Kedavra._ These words had creeped through her mind all afternoon. They seemed familiar, somehow. As if she had heard them before, but how was that supposed to be possible?The young witch simply hoped that she would never have to experience that.


End file.
